fishingrod Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 Hi there Has anyone ever used a sea anchor to slow their drift when fishing offshore? Ive got a 5.7m fibreglass. I was out fishing 65-70m on Sunday and there was gentle NNE'er blowing that making the drift a bit quick and i didnt want to swap to huge sinkers to reach bottom. Any idea if a sea anchor would be effective and what type to get. It would be towed from the stern about 2-4 metres behind the boat im guessing ? Ive seen that some low-mid range models have a hoop or frame to keep the mouth open. I was looking at spending about $40-60 from of the established chandlreys in Sydney. Any hints guys? cheers Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big-Banana Posted May 30, 2007 Share Posted May 30, 2007 I do it all the time especially in deeper water or when I want to cover more ground when a bit of wind is running. Go out to a boating shop tell them the size of your boat they'll be able to tell you whats best. Personally I'd be going the next size up as we had issues with a smaller one before we upgraded. I tend to tie mine with 2 ropes set back around 5 meters. One rope is connected to the front and the other to the back, when you want to bring it in the rope at the back is pulled and this empties the parachute. The ones which are always open are not only a b*tch to store they aren't very practical. Get an expanding one As I said, BIAS has a few different models in stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james1990 Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 We have a sea anchor also known as a (drouge), iv read somewhere they work more effectivly if you have 10 meters of line out, weve used ours once or twice at the fad and a few times over various reefs, has helped abit. Also another effective method iv read about is uisng large buckets as a sea anchor. cheers james Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntman Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 careful not to do it in areas where you could damage things on the bottom, like reefs or seagrass or it wont be a good fishing spot for very long. my question: Does anyone know if you can use an electric motor to slow yourself down? I know you can to steer a bit, but i'm interested in how powerful they are and if that would be an option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Big-Banana Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 careful not to do it in areas where you could damage things on the bottom, like reefs or seagrass or it wont be a good fishing spot for very long. my question: Does anyone know if you can use an electric motor to slow yourself down? I know you can to steer a bit, but i'm interested in how powerful they are and if that would be an option? Huh? You don't drag it on the bottom. A drogue is a parachute which slows a boats drift... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishingmik Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 yeah i use one all the time when the wind gets up it slows the drift up around half the pace all i do is tie it straight off the back with a single rope which is about 15 mtrs long works for me i have the one that folds up and costs me 40 bucks cheers mik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inhlanzi Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 I have a couple use them just about every trip. Don't know what I did without them!! Once you get the hang of them in the wind and currents you can set up some amazing slow trolls and drifts with livies. You can also use them to "ride" the tide in and out. Bias has them in different sizes. Get a range for different currents and winds. I prefer the orange collapsable ones. I have about 3m of rope attached to each with a clip at each end. One of the clips has a swivel clip so the drogue /sea anchor stays upright and does'nt spin. They can be rolled up and stored quickley fo the nest use. You can tie them off to different parts of the boat depending on what you want to do. They are invaluable when fishing in a current situation at anchor ant the wind keeps blowing you off your spot. DO NOT FORGET TO PULL THEM IN WHEN YOU TAKE OFF TO ANOTHER SPOT!!! cheers inhlanzi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishingrod Posted May 31, 2007 Author Share Posted May 31, 2007 (edited) Great stuff .... thanks for your replies guys. I had a look on here this afternoon and saw your replies ....... quickly ducked out and got one of the orange colapsible ones on my way home. $25 about 550W x 750L for a 6m boat The next size up was about $38 1.25m x 1.25m. The price didnt worry me but it seemed very large. Ill give mine a try. I saw the ones with frames and hoops. Im sure they serve a purpose but as Big B said that looked a pain to store. It looks like i need to fiddle with the rope lengths. (edit) I tried the 25L bucket trick once before, it changed the orientation of the boat a little but hardly slowed my drift. cheers .... thanks again Rod Edited May 31, 2007 by fishingrod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolan Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 my question: Does anyone know if you can use an electric motor to slow yourself down? I know you can to steer a bit, but i'm interested in how powerful they are and if that would be an option? I would suggest that you would burn your electric motor out in no time at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolan Posted May 31, 2007 Share Posted May 31, 2007 We had a nasty experince down at Bermagui in a Yellowfin tournament when our Sea Anchor was engulfed by a Mako that was as big as the 5.2 Savage Osprey we were cubing from This beast of a Mako towed us sideways for a few meteres before he decided that the whole stripey we fed over the side was more to his liking and proceeded to spool us and then Jump clear of the water and sommersault when the line pinged at the bottom of the spool Cheers Stewy Its ironic that you say that. I was on a mates boat 12 mile out and the day was a beaut , still , calm, hot day.You could see through the water for what seemed miles. I was toying with the idea of having a quick swim as it really was a hot day when my mate dropped his red,white and blue sea anchor out.Within seconds of the shute opening, a large mako was on top of it. Scared the shit out of me (Especially because I had my Peter Brock boxer shorts on.ie Red, White and Blue!) I had my pants back on and gave the swimming bit a really big miss!- Foreplay with a Mako just didn't quite do it for me. My mate had his shark rig out with a slab of mullett and was that an awesome battle! Those sea-anchors also act as a great teaser! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishingrod Posted May 31, 2007 Author Share Posted May 31, 2007 This Shark business is a interesting concept. One time about 5 mile of Broken Bay had a shark steal a mowie or snapper that i was bring up and then the shark proceeded to jump clear out of the water and do a couple of tail dances before dissapearing. It was close enough to splash the windscreen ! Makes we wonder if i should go for some thinner rope on the sea anchor. I think that 4mm might be too thin to handle though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntman Posted June 1, 2007 Share Posted June 1, 2007 I would suggest that you would burn your electric motor out in no time at all thanks wasn't sure about that. And I didn't know it was a parachute hehe sounds like a great option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now